Ball and paddle game



1964 w. B. NUTTING ETAL 3,

BALL AND PADDLE GAME Filed 001;. 25, 1962 L g I IN VENTORS Mum/vBJVur-rms- Jon 1 Josu Y United States Patent 1 3,161,4h9 BALL AND PADDLEGAME William B. Nntting, Charles St, New York, N.Y., and John V. Joslyn,New York, NX. (6 .iohn Sh, Sag Harbor, Long Island, NY.)

Filed Oct. 25, 1962, Ser. No. 233,044 3 Claims. (Cl. 273-97) Thisinvention relates to an amusement game and more particularly to a gamewherein a ball is transmitted between two players much the same as in atennis match.

The object of the invention is to provide a game, sturdily constructedand economical to produce, for the amusement of its participants.

Yet anotherobject of this invention is a to provide a competitiveactivity for children and adults wherein a score may be kept and awinner thereby be determined.

A further object of this invention is to provide an amusement toy whichmay be manipulated by either the participants hands or feet.

The aforesaid objects of the present invention, and other objects whichwill become apparent as the description proceeds, are achieved byproviding a frame on which is pivotably mounted a lever means. One endof the lever means is pivotably connected to they frame while the otherend has a resilient means attached thereto. A first striking means isconnected to one end of the frame for striking the resilient means and asecond striking means is attached to the other end of the frame forstriking the resilient means, the resilient means being movable be tweenthe first and second striking means. 1 A stop means is disposed on theframe for stopping the lever means out of reach of the first and secondstriking means.

For a better understanding ofthe present invention reference should behad to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals of referenceindicate similar parts throughout the several views wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of the invention, and

FIGURE 2 is a top View of the invention.

With specific reference to the form of the present invention illustratedin the drawings, and referring particularly to FIGURE 1 the frame of thegame is generally indicated by the reference numeral It).

The frame It) is made of aluminum tubing, however other light andworkable material may be used in its place. Connected to the center ofthe frame lit) is a metal bracket 12 which serves as a place forpivotably mounting a lever means or lever arm 14. The lever means orlever arm 14 in this instance is a flexible one 7 quarter inch tube,however other, somewhat flexible material may be used in its place.

Disposed on one end or the free end 16 of the lever arm 14 is aresilient means or resilient ball 18. The resilient ball 18 is made ofpolyethylene but other resilient material, such as rubber, may be used.The other end 20 of the lever arm 14 is connected to the bracket 12 suchthat the lever arm 14 may pivot about its point of connection 22. Theresilient ball 18 therefore is movable in an'arc 23 (FIGURE 1) betweenthe ends of the frame.

In order to keep the lever arm 14 pivoting about its point of connection22 and the resilient ball 18 moving in an are 23 a first striking meansor first paddle 24 is provided at one end 26 of the frame 10. The frameIt is curled back on itself forming a U-shaped bracket 28 on which thefirst striking means or paddle 24 may be mounted. As seen in FIGURE 2the first striking means 24 is in the form of a paddle, however itshould be under. stood that the first striking means may take otherforms such as a rectangle, oval or the like.

The first paddle 24 is pivotably mounted on the bracket 28 by means of astamped bracket 30 and pin 32. The

first paddle 2 5 is pivotable in an are 33 in the same plane as'the are23 struck by the lever arm 14 and the resilient ball 18.

In order to provide a means for moving the resilient ball 13 in the are23 back and forth between the ends of the frame it much as in a tennismatch, the other end 34 of the frame it) is curled back on itselfforming a U-shaped bracket 36. A second striking means or second paddle38 is pivotably mounted on the bracket 36 'by means of a stamped bracketan and pin 42. The second paddle 38 is seen to move in an are 43 (FIGURE1).

structurally, the bracket 12, to which is connected the lever arm 14, isprovided with projections 44 and 46. The projection 44 is on the side ofthe frame 10 facing the first paddle 24 and it may be seen that it actsas a stop means so that the movement of the lever arm 14 is limited orrestricted and in this position the resilient ball 18 could not bestruck by the first paddle 24. However, the lever arm 14 is made of aflexible material and if the lever arm 14 when following the are 23strikes the stop 44 the lever arm is flexed somewhat and the resilientball 13 is now within the reach of the first paddle 24 and may be Istruck thereby and sent toward the other end 34 of the frame it Theexact same relationship as heretofore described holds true for therelationship of the stop 46 and the second paddle 38. When the lever arm14 is in the flexed position the resilient ball 18 is within reach ofthe second paddle 33 so that the resilient ball 13 may be struck andsent in the are 23 toward the first paddle 24 so that it in turn may bestruck and returned much as in a tennis match.

The stamped metal brackets 30 and 40 are provided with horizontallyextending portions 48 and 50, as seen in FIGURE 2, so that the frame 10may be placed in an upright position on the floor or a table. It shouldbe noted that the first and second paddles 24 and 38 may be manipulatedby the participants hands or feet and therefore the frame it should beplaced in an appropriate position so that the paddles 24 and 38 -may becomfortably manipulated.

Operation The game is started by throwing the resilient ball 18 intoaction such that the lever arm 14 and resilient ball 18 move in a pathdescribed by are 23. The lever arm 14 in its descent initially willcontact one of the stops 44 or an, by way of illustration assume thatthe lever arm 14 contacts stop 44. If the lever arm 14 were rigid theresilient ball 18 would be out of the reach of the first paddle 24 asseen in FIGURE 1. However, the lever arm 1 is made of a flexiblematerial so that the momentum of the lever arm 14 and resilient ball 18causes the lever arm 14 to bend or flex when it contacts stop 44 thusbringing the resilient ball within the reach of the first paddle 24. Thefirst paddle 24 when pivoted at the proper'instant causes thefirstpaddle 24 to strike the resilient ball 18 thereby causing it tomove in the path described by the are 23 toward the other end 34 of theof overshoot or the flexing of the lever arm 14 he will not be able toreturn the resilient ball 18 toward his opponent. This scores a pointfor the erring players opponent. Scores may be kept, as in a tennismatch or table tennis game, so that a winner may be determined.

While in accordance with the patent statute a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention has been described in detail, it is to beparticularly understood that the invention is not limited thereto orthereby.

We claim:

1. A game comprising a frame, flexible lever means disposed on saidframe, one end of said flexible lever means being pivotably mounted onsaid frame, resilient means connected to the free end of said flexiblelever means for receiving blows, a first striking means pivotablymounted on one end of said frame for striking said resilient means, asecond striking means pivotably mounted on the other end of said framefor striking said resilient means, said resilient means being movablebetween said first and second pivotably mounted striking means, and stopmeans disposed on said frame for stopping said flexible lever meansthereby keeping said resilient means out of reach of said first andsecond pivotably mounted striking means, said flexible lever meanshaving a degree of flexibility rendering it capable of flexing aboutsaid stop means such that the free end of said flexible lever means isbrought within range of said pivotably mounted first or second strikingmeans, thereby allowing said resilient means to receive a blow.

2. A game comprising a frame, a lever means disposed in the center ofsaid frame, one end of said lever means being pivotably mounted on saidframe, resilient means connected to the free end of said lever means forreceiving blows, said lever means being flexible, a first striking meanspivotably mounted on one end of said frame for striking said resilientmeans, a second striking means pivotably mounted on the other end ofsaid frame for striking said resilient means, said resilient means beingmovable in an are between said first and second pivotably mountedstriking means, and stop means disposed on said frame for stopping saidflexible lever means thereby keeping said resilient means out of reachof said first and second pivotably mounted striking means, said flexiblelever means having a degree of flexibility such that when said flexiblelever means strikes said stop means said flexible lever means will bendallowing its free end to come within range of said first or secondpivotably mounted striking means so that the resilient means may bestruck.

3. A ball game comprising a frame, a flexible lever arm disposed in thecenter of said frame, one end of said flexible lever arm being pivotablymounted to said frame, a resilient ball connected to the free end ofsaid flexible lever arm for receiving blows, a first paddle pivotablymounted on one end of said frame for striking said resilient ball, asecond paddle pivotably mounted to the other end of said frame forstriking said resilient ball, said resilient ball being movable in anare between said first and second paddles, and stop means disposed onsaid frame for stopping said flexible lever arm thereby keeping saidresilient ball out of reach of said pivotably mounted first and secondpaddles, said flexible lever arm having a degree of flexibility suchthat when said flexible lever arm strikes said stop means said flexiblelever arm will bend allowing its free end to come within range of saidpivotablyrmounted first or second paddle so that the resilient ball maybe struck and thereby served and returned between said paddles.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,566,044 8/5lTrepanier 273--97 DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner.

1. A GAME COMPRISING A FRAME, FLEXIBLE LEVER MEANS DISPOSED ON SAIDFRAME, ONE END OF SAID FLEXIBLE LEVER MEANS BEING PIVOTABLY MOUNTED ONSAID FRAME, RESILIENT MEANS CONNECTED TO THE FREE END OF SAID FLEXIBLELEVER MEANS FOR RECEIVING BLOWS, A FIRST STRIKING MEANS PIVOTABLYMOUNTED ON ONE END OF SAID FRAME FOR STRIKING SAID RESILIENT MEANS, ASECOND STRIKING MEANS PIVOTABLY MOUNTED ON THE OTHER END OF SAID FRAMEFOR STRIKING SAID RESILIENT MEANS, SAID RESILIENT MEANS BEING MOVABLEBETWEEN SAID FIRST AND SECOND PIVOTABLY MOUNTED STRIKING MEANS, AND STOPMEANS DISPOSED ON SAID FRAME FOR STOPPING SAID FLEXIBLE LEVER MEANSTHEREBY KEEPING SAID RESILIENT MEANS OUT OF REACH OF SAID FIRST ANDSECOND PIVOTABLY MOUNTED STRIKING MEANS, SAID FLEXIBLE LEVER MEANSHAVING A DEGREE OF FLEXIBILITY RENDERING IT CAPABLE OF FLEXING ABOUTSAID STOP MEANS SUCH THAT THE FREE END OF SAID FLEXIBLE LEVER MEANS ISBROUGHT WITHIN RANGE OF SAID PIVOTABLY MOUNTED FIRST OR SECOND STRIKINGMEANS, THEREBY ALLOWING SAID RESILIENT MEANS TO RECEIVE A BLOW.